scholarly journals Competencies for Agricultural Advisors in Innovation Support

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
Charlotte Lybaert ◽  
Lies Debruyne ◽  
Eva Kyndt ◽  
Fleur Marchand

The expectation that agricultural advisors will facilitate Interactive Innovation is accompanied by novel expectations for their competency profile. In addition to their traditional technical basis, advisors are now expected to organise multi-actor processes, facilitate learning, mediate conflict, etc. Innovation support services are inherently diverse. To date, no precise list of competencies required by agricultural advisors to support Interactive Innovation has been defined. To form the basis for a competency profile, we examine the competencies currently being expected from an agricultural advisor. This suggested profile, developed in the context of the H2020 i2connect project, is based on a literature review, semi-structured interviews with co-creation experts, and an online validation workshop. We explore five themes: (a) basic disposition and attitude, (b) content competence, (c) methodological competence, (d) organisational competence, and (e) reflection, learning, and personal development. In practice, the profile can be used as either a tool for setting up co-creation processes or as the foundation for the development of new training materials. We conclude with a recommendation to create teams of advisors rather than relying on individuals, as a team is more likely to comprise the diversity of required competencies.

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Manor-Binyamini

Although children across the world experience autism spectrum disorder (ASD), most research on ASD has been conducted using Western cultural perspectives and has focused primarily on mothers, leaving significant gaps in the literature. This study aimed to address these gaps by exploring the experiences of fathers raising children with ASD in a Bedouin community. To this end, a sample of 19 fathers of children (aged 6–15 years) with ASD living in recognized and unrecognized Bedouin settlements in the Negev participated in ethnographic, semi-structured interviews designed to investigate their experiences with raising a child with ASD in their community. Two major themes emerged: the challenges that Bedouin fathers of children with ASD face, and the influence of socio-demographic and cultural characteristics on their experience. Findings reflect the complex experiences of fathers raising children with ASD in the Bedouin community, stemming from their socio-cultural context and the limited knowledge and support services that are available in the community for these children. This article concludes with recommendations on how to enhance professional sensitivity and provide more culturally tailored services for parents of children with ASD.


2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Virginia Wilson

A Review of: Walter, Scott. “Librarians as Teachers: A Qualitative Inquiry into Professional Identity.” College and Research Libraries 69.1 (2008): 51-71. Objective – This study explores how academic librarians are introduced to teaching, the degree to which they think of themselves as teachers, the ways in which being a teacher has become a significant feature of their professional identity, and the factors that may influence academic librarians to adopt a “teacher identity.” Design – A literature review extended by qualitative semi-structured interviews. Setting – The research took place at an American university with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching designation of “Doctoral/Research — Extensive.” Subjects – Six academic librarians. Methods – The main feature of the article is an extensive literature review around the themes of LIS, teaching, and qualitative research methodologies. The literature review is supplemented by qualitative research consisting of semi-structured interviews of between 45 and 90 minutes each, which were conducted during spring 2004 with six librarians (five women and one man), whose length of professional service ranged from 2 to 32 years. All of the participants worked at the same institution. The data collected were reviewed throughout the process using field memos and a research log. The data were analyzed using a coding process where discrete ideas that emerged from the data were used to identify a small number of themes. The initial conclusions in the study were validated through member checking during the writing phase. “Member checking involves sharing draft study findings with the participants, to inquire whether their viewpoints were faithfully interpreted, whether there are gross errors of fact, and whether the account makes sense to participants with different perspectives” (Centre for Health Evidence). Main Results – Five themes around teaching and teacher identity as they pertain to academic librarians emerged from the data. The first theme was the centrality of teaching. Each participant sought out a position where the teaching role was valued. The role of teacher spilled over into the other roles of the librarian, i.e., reference service, collection development, etc. The next theme was the importance of collegial and administrative support, which is critical to the ability to focus on work as a teacher. The stress of multiple demands emerged as a theme, as time dedicated to teaching was often at the expense of something else. Another theme was the problems with professional education around teaching. Instruction course offerings in library schools were reported to be meagre, and some were badly planned and executed. The fifth theme involved stereotypes and misperceptions. Studies have shown that the academic library profession has been poorly understood by students and faculty. Study participants believed that many of their campus colleagues were either unaware of what they did, or were misinformed by popular culture stereotypes of librarians. Conclusions – The small sample size precluded the making of any definite conclusions based on the study results. Other limitations of the study include the relatively short amount of time spent in the interview process and the narrow range of librarians chosen to participate. The author notes that a subject pool more representative of academic librarians’ full range of opinions regarding the importance of teaching as a professional responsibility would have resulted in more complex themes emerging. While the author is aware of the study’s limitations, he feels there is value in the qualitative research design, in giving voice to individual librarians, and in the provision of insight into some of the research questions found in the literature of learning to teach and of teacher identity. Given the limitations, Walter makes three conclusions about his findings. He points out the lack of a formal introduction to teaching in many library programs which has been explored by other studies and concludes that his study “suggests that continuing lack of attention to this issue results in a difficult introduction into the profession for new academic librarians” (64). Regarding continuing and professional education, Walter concludes that “this study suggests that there are a number of important questions about the content and conduct of these opportunities for instruction librarians that have not been explored in the literature” (64). Finally, Walter concludes that “this study suggests that there is an important connection between research on student perceptions of academic librarians, the study of teacher identity, and the future of the profession” (64).


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Syifa Naufal Qisty

With the development of information technology, document management is now done digitally and paperless. Document management is also carried out as an implementation of knowledge sharing activities in an organization. Document management as a part of knowledge sharing activities is one of which is carried out by Bina Nusantara University (Binus). This article is compiled to find out how document management is an implementation of knowledge sharing in the Binus University environment. The method used is descriptive method of conducting interviews and literature review. From the research conducted, Binus University developed the Binus portal as a forum for employees to carry out knowledge sharing activities as well as manage documents in the organization. The managed documents include institutional documents such as organizational structure documents, business processes, duties and functions of each directorate, training materials, references in carrying out assignments, sharing expertise, case studies, case-based reasoning, as well as documents in the form of ideas, innovations, and opinions written in popular form by employees at Binus. 


Author(s):  
Samiullah Sohu ◽  
Abdul Fattah Chandio ◽  
Kaleem ullah

The problem of delay in construction industry is a regular phenomenon worldwide, and construction industry of Pakistan has no exception, particularly in highways projects. Delay can be described as the extension of time to complete the construction project. The aim of this paper is to identify main causes of delays in highway projects of Pakistan, and to determine mitigating measures for the identified causes. The research method of this study is based on literature review, questionnaire survey and semi structured interview. From in-depth literature review, twenty-six common causes of delay were found. A questionnaire survey was carried out among construction professionals of highway projects. The causes of delay in highways projects were ranked referring to their Mean values. A semi structured interview was carried out to determine mitigation measures for the top ten causes of delays. The data gathered from questionnaire survey was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) while, data collected through semi structured interviews was analyzed using Nvivo software. The findings of this study are expected to be useful for construction parties, to mitigate the delays in highway construction projects of Pakistan.


Author(s):  
Putri Nur Azizah ◽  

Individual always experiences both pleasant and unpleasant events. Resilience is an individual's capacity to deal with unpleasant events, through developing ways to transform stressful circumstances into an opportunity for personal development. Increasing resilience is an important task to provide capacity in facing life's challenges and difficulties. This literature review aims to identify and provide an overview of the concept of resilience in adults. The research was conducted by reviewing research results published from 2008 to 2018 that obtained from Google Scholar and also several journal databases such as Science Direct, SAGE, and Elsevier. Data search was done using keywords, including resilience and adult. The concept of resilience consists of understanding, influencing factors, aspects or dimensions, scales to measure resilience and therapy or interventions to increase resilience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (107) ◽  
pp. 46-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saulius Šukys ◽  
Živilė Dargenė ◽  
Diana Karanauskienė

Background. Moral behaviour and moral education of young athletes still remain an important issue in sports context. This study was designed to examine coaches’ perspectives on moral education in sport. Methods. In this study, aiming at establishing the perspectives of coaches on the moral education of athletes in sports activities, qualitative research was selected. Primary data were collected via semi-structured interviews with nine basketball and football coaches of different experience and age. The data were analysed applying thematic analysis. Results. Thematic analysis indicated that coaches identified goals of athletes’ education as the development of athletes’ personality, motivation, the development of sports excellence and the encouragement to achieve victory. Coaches defined moral education as the development of the authority of an athlete, fair play, compliance with rules, and integrity. The most common means coaches used for moral education were explanation, discussion, lectures, meetings, personal examples, case analyses. Such means are important for athlete’s personal development, pursuit of results, and career planning. The qualities of good coach were professional knowledge, authority, competences of creating motivational climate, and also moral competences. Conclusion. A central finding of the study is that coaches define moral education in sport through the education of moral values and the goals set by coaches related not only to the sports results, but also to the development of the personality of athletes. Personal role of coaches in moral education encompassing professional knowledge and moral competences of athletes is of great importance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (31) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
El Bakkouri Bouchra ◽  
Souaf Malika ◽  
Elwazani Youssef

The differentiation of local products is considered as a necessity nowadays given the standardization flows are increasing. This differentiation can be established especially through the Distinctive Signs of Origin and Quality (DSOQ). Our work has shown through the example of the PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) Argane, that GIs are a relevant tool for the differentiation of local products if they (GIs) are placed in a favorable context to their application. Our paper answers the following question: "To what extent geographical indications are meant as an effective tool for differentiation of local products: case of the PGI Argane in the city of Agadir and regions? To do so, we used an exploratory qualitative study through semi-structured interviews with a sample of people representing different stakeholders of Agadir and its regions, preceded of course by a literature review on the different key concepts.


This chapter aims to describe relationships strategies that manager need to practice in order to establish customer-oriented service system. Therefore, the chapter provides a structural model derived from literature review and depth interview from depth interview of 10 customers and 5 managers of 5 auto repair shops. In line with that, the current chapter proposes four propositions in regards to effective relationship developing strategies for the SME. The findings revealed that ethical practice, customer's orientation, length of relationship, customer's support services are significantly influence firm's relationship strategies. In addition, trust factor play a mediating role among the relationships. The chapter can help to predict the quality of service perceived by the customers by using relationship strategies, which may be similar in other markets with similar characteristics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 719-735
Author(s):  
Hewa Siliyange Athushla Madhubhashana ◽  
B.A.K.S. Perera ◽  
Colombapatabendige Savindi Ranthika Perera

Purpose Many countries have started to use post-tensioned (PT) concrete because of its sustainability and low cost. However, it is not quite popular in Sri Lanka as the required knowhow and technology are not available within the country. By introducing PT concrete to the country, unwanted costs and time overruns could be eliminated from the construction projects. This paper, therefore, aims to identify the suitability and acceptability of PT concreting for/in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review was first carried out to gather knowledge on PT concreting. The four case studies that followed it included eight semi-structured interviews and a document review. Ten expert interviews were conducted finally to strengthen the findings of the literature review and case studies. Cross-case analysis and NVivo 11 content analysis software were used to analyze the data gathered. Findings Findings reveal that PT concreting saves cost and time of construction and that it can have a control over the resources required for construction, which makes it environment-friendly. PT concreting allows thinner concrete sections, extended spans, stiffer walls that resist lateral loads and stiffer foundations that resist the effects of shrinking and swelling soils. Originality/value It is found that PT concreting is more suitable for the construction industry in Sri Lanka than traditional concreting.


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